Friendville was founded in 1870 by Mr. Charles E.
Friend. In 1869 he left his home in Illinois and in the spring of 1870 he
homesteaded the land where Friend is now located. He worked in Lincoln as a
store clerk but later in 1870 he took an assortment of dry goods and
returned to his hometown where he established and operated a flourishing dry
goods store for many years.

The Burlington and Missouri River
Railroad reached Friend in 1871. The town at that time was no more than the
homestead of Charles E. Friend. The government established a post office
naming Mr. Friend as its first postmaster. He generously donated land for a
school and church.

The year of 1873 was one of rapid growth. Work was
completed on the railroad station and it was renamed "Friend" by the
railroad. The town was surveyed and settlement began to take the shape of a
frontier town. Fifty-six acres of Charles Friend's land was laid out on a
square containing 16 square blocks. Trees were planted on most of the lots.
Mr. Bigford opened a blacksmith shop, and flour mills were erected on Turkey
Creek because of its water power. Late in 1873 Charles Fischer built a
one-story hotel. The boom continued and the population increased. Several
stores and a lumberyard were opened.

Friend, Nebraska. As is almost always the case, "Main Street" runs
perpendicular to the tracks.

The post office is considerably larger than the police station.

FOR
SMALL CRIMES, PERHAPS: The Friend Police Station once was listed in
"Ripley's Believe It or Not" as the world's smallest police station. The
building started as a toolshed for the construction crews who built U.S.
Highway 6. The station's size was doubled in the 1960s so that the Nebraska
State Patrol also could use it. The building still is believed to be the
smallest combination police station in the world and is a tourist
attraction. However, the real reason the station has remained at its
original location is the view for about one mile east and west on U.S. 6 and
a clear view of Main Street.

- Omaha World-Herald

Streets named for common eastern trees run parallel to Main Street.
Numbered streets run parallel to the railroad tracks, starting with 1st Street
(which is adjacent to the tracks). This probably holds true for the
majority of towns in the central plains states.

The Friend public school.

I needed something to drink; the local market was open.

Just a few miles north of Friend is the town of Beaver Crossing.

Nebraska-15 probably is never very busy.

The sign out on the highway said that the town of Western had all the
services a traveler would need--including a cafe. The sign was very old.

Western, Nebraska.

Kansas

Washington, Kansas is just south of the Nebraska border. No cafe here,
either...